Princess of the Forest
by Anala
Summary: First RA fic! A random girl is hiding out in the forest and ambushes Halt. Who is she and where is she from? Please read and review to find out more!


**Author's Note: This is my first RA Story! Please read and review and let me know what you think of it. This is as far as I've gone with it at the moment and I'm not sure where to go from here.**

**So read and enjoy!**

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><p>She peered out at the man, hidden amongst the thick foliage of the tree. She was thankful for the weather in this fief; even in the dead of winter the trees still retained their leaves, providing excellent hiding places. She had been watching this man for days, trailing him throughout the forest, learning where the best food and water places were. Tracking him had taken every ounce of skill she had. The man moved like a shadow; swift, silent and unseen. He was alert and well attuned to the forest and she had had to take extra care to keep hidden and move quieter than he could and yet she had succeeded. Or so she thought.<p>

Suddenly he stopped. She halted too, surprised at the abruptness of his movement. Then, with a quick, fluid movement, he spun around and let loose the arrow from his bow. However, as quick as the man moved, she moved faster, silently sliding behind a tree. She didn't quite evade his arrow though; it struck her in her upper arm. Despite the shooting pain in her arm, she didn't make any noise, quickly breaking the shaft of the arrow so it wouldn't snag on anything and then scrambling up a tree. She watched as he moved towards her hiding spot, searching for who or what his arrow had hit. He stopped as he saw the arrow shaft tossed away amongst the bushes. She heard him mutter to himself, "So there was someone here and now they're injured. The question is who are they, why were they here and where are they now?" He peered intently at the ground searching for tracks. She knew he wouldn't find any; she was far too experienced to leave any signs of her presence. And yet as he studied the ground, he seemed to find some faint hints of tracks. She froze in horror, the thought of being found after all her precautions and of her secrets being revealed overrode her instinctive desire to remain hidden. As he rose from his crouch and began peering into the trees and bushes surrounding the path, she made her move. Jumping from the branches she landed on his shoulders, her weight and the force of her jump knocking him to the ground. She landed lightly on her feet, ready to attack again as she studied the still form on the ground. As he started to stir she slipped over to him and hit him in the back of the neck. After one low groan he was silent and still.

Shaking from the nearness of discovery, she stared at the man she had been tracking. He was small and definitely older than she had thought, but still strong she thought as she tried to draw his bow. The weapon itself fascinated her. Up until that time, the only bows she had seen were small recurve bows, nothing like this huge longbow. She was strong; a lifetime of hard living had seen to that, and yet she could only just draw the bow. Also, as she turned him over, she saw a curious looking arrangement of knives at his belt. Carefully she drew both knives and examined them. They were both razor sharp and obviously well cared for, but she looked at them with some puzzlement. "Why would someone be carrying a throwing knife, a dagger and a longbow through the forest? What is he afraid of?" she thought as she checked her victim more closely. He would be coming around shortly; she realised and quickly set to work. She took his bow, quiver, both his knives, and after some thought, his cloak as well, tied him hand and foot to a tree and made her escape. Once she had gone some distance, she hid the weapons and the cloak and quickly swarmed up the side of a tree. She watched him come around and realise his predicament and then she took note of the bigger landmarks. She had seen his apprentice before, and would leave a note for him, informing him of his master's whereabouts. She smiled to herself as she dropped from the tree and picked up her bundle, then realised that her arm was still dripping blood. Cursing herself for being so careless, she went to pull the arrowhead out, then stopped. The arrowhead was so firmly embedded that to pull it out would cause more damage.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: This takes place early on in Will's apprenticeship with Halt and in case you didn't pick it up, she ambushed Halt. Also, I haven't been able to think of a name for the main character of this story, so I'm open to any ideas. Please let me know any ideas you might have for this story or the girl's name and I'll see what I can come up with.<strong>

**Thanks :)**


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